The official Team Canada roster

Here is the final roster of 25 players named to Team Canada for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Goalies

Roberto Luongo

Carey Price

Mike Smith

Defence

Duncan Keith

Drew Doughty

Shea Weber

PK Subban

Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester

Dan Hamhuis

Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Forwards

Sidney Crosby

Jonathan Toews

Ryan Getzlaf

Corey Perry

Steven Stamkos

John Tavares

Patrice Bergeron

Matt Duchene

Jamie Benn

Chris Kunitz

Patrick Marleau

Rick Nash

Patrick Sharp

Jeff Carter

The consensus picks

We asked seven members of the Globe and Mail sports department – hockey columnists Eric Duhatschek, Roy MacGregor and David Shoalts along with writers James Mirtle, Sean Gordon, David Ebner and globesports.com editor Darren Yourk – to do their best Steve Yzerman impression and put together the roster (three goalies, eight defenceman and 14 forwards) they would send to Sochi to go for gold. The 15 players who ended up on all seven ballots are listed below, along with a closer look at three possible rosters.

James Mirtle's picks

Yes, it’s a cliché, one generally from the NHL’s entry draft, but you have to take the best players available. Forget the specialists, forget the notion of linemate chemistry (unless we’re talking about truly elite D-partners) – just go with the very best Canadian players. And by very best, I mean the very best in recent NHL play and at all elements of the game.
Fifteen of the players on my team were taken by everyone else as well, so there’s no controversy there.

As for the differences… the third goaltender is a difficult call, and there are a handful of choices I’d be happy with. Ultimately, Canada’s going to win or lose with Price or Luongo in net, so it makes sense to go with a youngster like Jonathan Bernier, Braden Holtby or James Reimer who will have a chance to play in 2018. Josh Harding is also a fine pick.

On the blueline, my unique choices were Seabrook due to his terrific work with Keith, Vlasic because he’s one of the more underrated defenders in the league and Letang to add some backup skill and speed should any of the primary options like Doughty or Keith get hurt.

Up front, Canada shouldn’t overthink things. Bring as much offensive power combined with defensive acumen as possible, without worrying about who is too young (or old) or too slow or not suited to big ice or whatever. I was the only voter to put Marleau on the team – despite the fact he’s been productive in the NHL year after year, a good two-way player and penalty killer on a great team – and was one of only two who wants to see Thornton and Hall in Sochi. But you add in Giroux, Nash and Sharp to those three and you end up with a really nice mix overall of young and old, goal scorers and playmakers, and just very, very all-around talented players.

In the end, it’s pretty hard to screw up Team Canada if you let the talent win out. And, however you pick, a half dozen very good players are going to be left out.

Goalies

Roberto Luongo

Carey Price

Jonathan Bernier

Defence

Duncan Keith

Alex Pietrangelo

Drew Doughty

Shea Weber

PK Subban

Brent Seabrook

Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Kris Letang

Forwards

Sidney Crosby

Steven Stamkos

John Tavares

Jonathan Toews

Ryan Getzlaf

Corey Perry

Patrice Bergeron

Logan Couture

Rick Nash

Joe Thornton

Claude Giroux

Patrick Sharp

Taylor Hall

Patrick Marleau

Eric Duhatschek's picks

Internally, most of the discussion as they come down to the wire is on the forwards. The two top goalies – Price and Luongo – are set and the philosophy on the No. 3 is ‘who can win us a single game if a crisis occurs and the two top guys are both out?’ It’s why Marc-Andre Fleury’s strong start probably isn’t enough to get him back in the mix – not enough success when the chips were down in playoffs past. The top six on defence too are pretty much set as well.

The only choices left are who goes as the seventh and eighth players, because Kris Letang’s injury-filled season essentially knocked him out of contention. Up front, though, it’s a log jam and there’ll be a Bobby Ryan sort of backlash because a handful of elite top scorers won’t crack the lineup. Someone like Taylor Hall, who was been lights-out good of late on a bad Edmonton Oilers team, likely hasn’t done enough to win a spot.

A couple of the bubble players – the Blackhawks’ Patrick Sharp, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Chris Kunitz – have the advantage of playing with superstars Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby, and that familiarity will enhance their chances. Claude Giroux has overcome a glacially slow start to play himself back into the picture, while Matt Duchene’s speed off the wing and Martin St. Louis’s experience should help them make the cut as well. Six of the 13 forwards from 2010 likely won’t be back – Dany Heatley, Brenden Morrow and Jarome Iginla for sure are out while Mike Richards, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau are long shots. That in turn will enhance Eric Staal’s chances; they’ll want his experience, even if it hasn’t exactly been a crackerjack year for the Carolina captain.

Goalies

Carey Price

Roberto Luongo

Mike Smith

Defence

Duncan Keith

Drew Doughty

Shea Weber

PK Subban

Alex Pietrangelo

Jay Bouwmeester

Dan Boyle

Mark Giordano

Forwards

Sidney Crosby

Jonathan Toews

Ryan Getzlaf

Corey Perry

Logan Couture

John Tavares

Patrice Bergeron

Steven Stamkos

Rick Nash

Eric Staal

Matt Duchene

Jamie Benn

Martin St. Louis

Claude Giroux

Sean Gordon's picks

When the stakes are this high, it tends to create organizational conservatism; in selecting Team Canada, a consistent performer is almost always preferred to an unproven or mercurial one.

Freed from the strictures of picking not to lose – and those of reputation and dressing room politics – we can afford a little more daring.

The guiding principle here is to amass the best collection of speed, smarts, competitive jam and puck skills; considering the competition from the likes of Sweden, the U.S., and Russia, having four dangerous lines is a must.
So out with the old and in with the new: dynamic youngsters Matt Duchene, Jamie Benn, and Taylor Hall draw in, bumping Vancouver gold medalists Rick Nash, Eric Staal and Patrick Marleau.

Hockey Canada will assuredly include one or perhaps both of Pittsburgh’s James Neal or Chris Kunitz, but speedy, versatile Patrick Sharp simply has to be there, as does heart-and-soul guy Martin St. Louis (as tempting as it would be to take a Milan Lucic or even an Andrew Ladd).

Claude Giroux had a terrible start, but you could do worse than having a guy with his skill level and competitiveness in a bottom-six role.

To win on international ice you need a mobile defence, and while Alex Pietrangelo’s regular partner in St. Louis, and quintessential safe pick Jay Bouwmeester, will almost certainly make the team, we'd prefer a more gifted defensive defencemen (step forward, Marc-Edouard Vlasic) and some grit and physicality (Mark Giordano).
Despite his injury-filled season, Kris Letang’s skating, passing and vision make him a natural pick, although Dan Boyle would be just a defensible choice.

Coach Mike Babcock is dogmatic about having left-shooting defencemen play the left, but why exclude P.K. Subban, this country's most explosive offensive defenceman, from the top-six just because he's a righty?

In net, no one seems to rate Marc-Andre Fleury given his playoff yips in recent years, but he’s super-athletic, brilliant in shootouts, and has won a Stanley Cup. Bring him.

And let’s not lose sight of the fact that if the biggest arguments concern the third goaltender, seventh defencemen, and the bottom six forwards, you’ve got a pretty good lineup.

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